The Al-Ain Animal Awareness Association (AAAA) is a non-profit making organization run by a expatriate volunteers in our spare time. We rely on donations and fund-raising events to pay veterinarian bills and other related expenses. AAAA evolved from a group called Feline Friends in Al-Ain which initially dealt with stray cats until the growing stray dog population became too big to ignore. Because other kinds of tame animals have also needed to be rescued in past such as birds and rabbits, we decided to extend our efforts to all types of animals that may need our help in the area.Feline Friends is a non-profit organization which was founded in 1991 by Lesley King, a British lady who moved to Abu Dhabi that same year. Upset by the sad plight of many of the capital’s stray cats, Lesley appealed for help from other cat lovers thus Feline Friends was formed. It now exists as a group in two other Emirates – in Dubai and Sharjah.Our Objectives:To help provide temporary care and relief to sick and injured stray animals, particularly cats and dogs, when possible; To help rescue tame cats and kittens as well as tame dogs, puppies and other abandoned animals that cannot survive on the streets; To help match up abandoned animals with caring homes; To provide guidance and support for animal owners and to encourage responsible pet care ownership; To promote the control of stray cat and dog population and to help reduce unplanned animal births in UAE by a advocating and assisting in a program of sterilization; To educate the public about the plight of abandoned animals in UAE and the need to teach children in particular to respect animals and to discourage animal cruelty; To raise much needed money to meet veterinary and other related expenses of running our voluntary organization. Our work falls into two main areas: The development of a fostering and homing scheme and a sterilization campaign. Sadly, many pet are abandoned on the streets when their expatriate owners leave the Emirates. Others are bought at local pet shops and are allowed to roam freely outside without any identification tags (tattoos or microchips) and are lost or are left out on the street when the owners tire of them or become overwhelmed by their pets’ needs. Most of these animals cannot survive on their own and often end up in a very poor state. Usually, such pets are eventually rescued and placed into a foster home (when they are available) and checked by a veterinarian until a permanent home can be found. Unfortunately, many of the stray cats and dogs who have lived on the streets for some time are not tame enough to be homed. More and more of these stray animals are born on the streets and are referred to as ‘bin cats or dogs’ since they survive by eating food which has been thrown out. If such animals manage to somehow survive their difficult outdoor conditions until adulthood, they end up reproducing and adding to the already high stray population. The AAAA beliefs and practices are based on those of animal welfare organizations around the world who have been rescuing stray animals for decades. Experience and studies have shown us that we must work together in our communities to control the stray cat and dog population, in particular, by birth control through sterilization.
